Kamelot

Kamelot

Kamelot is an American power metal band from Tampa, Florida. The band was formed by Thomas Youngblood and Richard Warner in 1988. Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album Siége Perilous, and has shared song-writing duties with Youngblood since.

As of 2009, Kamelot has released eight studio albums, two live albums, one live DVD, six music videos and a reissue of Ghost Opera that includes an additional disc with ten live recordings and four bonus tracks. They are currently working on a new studio album, entitled Poetry for the Poisoned, scheduled for release in September 2010.

Biography

Early years

Kamelot was founded in Florida by Thomas Youngblood and Richard Warner in 1991. Three years later, the band signed a deal with Noise Records; the release of their debut album Eternity followed in 1995. The next album, Dominion, was released in 1997. Later that year, drummer and founder Richard Warner and lead vocalist Mark Vanderbilt were replaced by drummer Casey Grillo and vocalist Roy Khan (formerly of Conception). With these two new members, Kamelot released their third studio album, Siege Perilous, in 1998. The band undertook their first tour during the fall, playing shows across Europe. Following this, the band returned to Tampa to write music for a new album, titled The Fourth Legacy. The album was produced at Sascha Paeth's studio in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Live album, Karma, Epica and The Black Halo

The summer of 2000 brought the "New Allegiance Tour" through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Greece and Spain during which the recordings for Kamelot's first live album The Expedition were made. A few months later, the band presented their fifth album Karma. Their sixth album, Epica, was released in 2003. To support the Epica album, the band went on tour through Europe (with At Vance as a supporting band) and Japan. Both "Epica" and the band's seventh effort, The Black Halo, which was released in 2005, are based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's version of the legend of Faust, a man who sells his soul to the devil. To support the new album, the band went on tour through Europe and Japan. During the first leg of the "Black Halo World Tour 2005", they played a headliner show with Epica and Kotipelto. In Japan the support was Silent Force. They also played on the Bang Your Head!!! Festival in Germany and the Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium.

In 2005, they shot their first music videos for the songs "The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)" and "March of Mephisto" from the album The Black Halo. Both videos were shot by the prolific director Patric Ullaeus. On October 5, 2005, Kamelot added Oliver Palotai as the fifth official band member; Oliver handles both keyboards and (additional) guitars.

On the second leg of the "Black Halo World Tour", they visited North and South America (USA, Canada, Brazil) as well as Europe (The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Norway). On February 11, 2006, the band's live DVD, One Cold Winter's Night was shot by Patric Ullaeus at Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Norway. It was released on November 17, 2006 in Germany, November 20 in other parts of Europe and November 21 in US/Canada via SPV Records.

Ghost Opera

In fall 2006, the band returned to Gate Studios in Wolfsburg, Germany to record the album, Ghost Opera, which was released on June 1, 2007 in Germany, June 4 in Europe and June 5 in the US. The album was recorded and mixed at Gate Studios and Pathway Studios in Wolfsburg with producers Sascha Paeth and Miro. Music videos have been made for the songs "Ghost Opera", "The Human Stain", "Rule the World" and "Love You to Death". A re-issue of Ghost Opera labeled Ghost Opera: the Second Coming was released shortly after its predecessor. It contains the entire original Ghost Opera album and a second CD with 10 live songs recorded during a concert in Belgrade, Serbia, with additional bonus tracks, "Season's End", "The Pendulous Fall", "Epilogue" and "Rule the World (Remixed)".

Current activity

In January, 2009, Kamelot started working on their ninth studio album in a cabin in Norway. In December 2009, Thomas Youngblood announced that bassist Glenn Barry had officially left the band. He was since replaced by touring bassist and original Kamelot member Sean Tibbetts. On January 27th, 2010, Kamelot published the titles of three songs from the upcoming album on their official website: "The Great Pandemonium", "Hunter's Season" and "Thespian Drama". The interview also stated the band was exploring "new sounds" and that the topics on the new album will be diverse. On February 19th, 2010, it was announced that Simone Simons had recently recorded her vocal parts for the band's newest ballad, "House on a Hill" and also for the album's title track. It was also announced that more special guests would be revealed soon. On March 25, 2010, they began their "Pandemonium Over Europe" tour. The tour ended on April 26, 2010. On May 18th, 2010 it was announced that Gus G, of the Greek power metal band Firewind, would be appearing as a guest musician. It was revealed on June 21, 2010, that their ninth studio album would be titled Poetry for the Poisoned and released by earMUSIC, international label of the entertainment group Edel. Its European release date is September 3, 2010.

Line-up

Current members

• Thomas Youngblood: Guitars, Backing vocals (1991−present)
• Roy Khan: Lead vocals (1998−present)
• Sean Tibbetts: Bass guitar (1991−92, 2009−present)
• Casey Grillo: Drums (1997−present)
• Oliver Palotai: Keyboards (2005−present)

Former members

• Mark Vanderbilt: vocals (1991−1997)
• Richard Warner: drums (1991−1997)
• David Pavlicko: keyboards (1991−1998)
• Glenn Barry: bass (1992−2009)

Timeline

Guest musicians

• Miro − studio keyboards (1999-2007)
• Günter Werno − keyboards (on The Expedition)
• Luca Turilli − solo guitar on "Descent of the Archangel" (Epica)
• Simone Simons − guest vocals and video appearance on "The Haunting" (The Black Halo), guest vocals on "Blücher" and "Season's End" (Ghost Opera)
• Shagrath − As Mephisto: vocals, video appearance on "March of Mephisto" (The Black Halo); vocals on "Memento Mori" (The Black Halo)
• Snowy Shaw − As Mephisto: vocals on "March of Mephisto" (One Cold Winter's Night)
• Jens Johansson − keyboard solos on "March of Mephisto" and "When the Lights are Down" (The Black Halo)
• Mari Youngblood − As Helena: vocals, appearance on (Epica), "Abandoned" and "Memento Mori" (The Black Halo), video appearance in "The Haunting" (The Black Halo) and various tracks of the One Cold Winter's Night concert of 2006.
• Elisabeth Kjærnes − video appearance on "March of Mephisto" (The Black Halo and One Cold Winter's Night) and "The Haunting" (The Black Halo), vocals in "Nights of Arabia" (The Fourth Legacy and One Cold Winter's Night)
• Matt Knowles (Royal Anguish) − As Mephisto when playing in Florida
• Sascha Paeth − guest appearance on One Cold Winter's Night as additional guitarist on "Moonlight", and Ghost Opera
• Amanda Somerville − guest vocalist for "Mourning Star", "Love You to Death" and "Ghost Opera"
• Anne-Catrin Marzke - live female and backing vocals
• Sebastian Bilodeau - Saxophone on "March of Mephisto"
• Sean Tibbetts - live bass during the 2006-2009 tours
• Dirk Bruinenberg − guest drummer on "The Silent Goddess" and "Alexandria" (The Fourth Legacy)

Discography

Studio albums

• Eternity (1995)
• Dominion (1997)
• Siége Perilous (1998)
• The Fourth Legacy (1999)
• Karma (2001)
• Epica (2003)
• The Black Halo (2005)
• Ghost Opera (2007)
• Poetry for the Poisoned (2010)

Reissues

• Ghost Opera - The Second Coming (2008)

Live albums

• The Expedition (2000)
• One Cold Winter's Night (2006)

Live DVDs

• One Cold Winter's Night (2006)

Music videos

• "The Haunting" (featuring Simone Simons) (2005)
• "March of Mephisto" (featuring Shagrath) (2005)
• "Ghost Opera" (2007)
• "The Human Stain" (2007)
• "Rule the World" (2008)
• "Love You to Death" (2009)
• "The Great Pandemonium" (2010)*Not yet released

External links

• Official website
• Template:Myspace
• Kamelot's channel on YouTube